Diseased kidneys Healthy kidneys
These
days, it has virtually become the tradition while watching prime time
TV shows to have programmes interrupted for a few minutes, not for
product advertisement but for funds solicitation.
Nigerians are
now familiar with gaunt figures lying critically sick on the bed and
plugged to dialysis machine begging for donations from government and
kind-hearted members of public.
The solicited funds usually run into millions of naira to:
Cover
the cost of temporary dialysis in Nigeria and subsequent organ
transplantation overseas. The latest of such is the music producer, OJB
Jezreel, who says he needs about N16m to treat his kidney disease.
Physicians
say when it comes to size, the kidneys are small. However, as Kidney
Specialist, Dr. Mumeen Amisu opines, “The kidneys may be small, but they
perform many vital functions that help maintain your overall health,
including filtering waste and excess fluids from your blood.”
These organs maintain the balance of salt and minerals in the blood, and also help regulate blood pressure.
The
online portal, webmd.com, warns that when the kidneys are damaged,
waste products and fluid can build up in the body, causing swelling of
the ankles, nausea, vomiting, weakness, poor sleep, shortness of breath,
fatigue, confusion, difficulty concentrating, loss of appetite,
abdominal pain, abnormally low urine levels, low blood flow to the
kidneys and kidney cell death.
“If left untreated, diseased
kidneys may eventually stop functioning completely. Loss of kidney
function is a serious — and potentially fatal — condition,” doctors say.
Experts
warn that serious kidney disease may lead to complete kidney failure
and the need for dialysis treatments or a kidney transplant when about
90 per cent of the kidney function has been lost. “Once you get a
transplant, though, you will have to be on medications for life,”
experts aver.
Though effective treatments are available for many
kidney diseases, physicians contend that kidney disease can often be
prevented.
Amisu says apart from genetic or congenital causes —
which are beyond the control of anybody — two avoidable leading diseases
that can lead to kidney disease are hypertension and diabetes.
On
how diabetes affects kidney health, family doctor, Olu George, notes
that when someone has diabetes, there can be excess glucose in the
blood. “When glucose levels are elevated for a long time, it can cause
damage in the tiny blood vessels of the kidneys. Once this happens, the
organs won’t be able to filter out toxins effectively as they should,”
George explains.
Both Amisu and George say blood pressure is
influenced by the kidneys and that how healthy your kidneys are can
affect your blood pressure, and vice versa.
George explains
in-depth, “Hypertension causes artery damage, and the kidneys are packed
with arteries. Over time, uncontrolled high blood pressure can cause
arteries around the kidneys to narrow, weaken or harden. When this
happens, the damaged arteries will not be able to deliver enough blood
to the kidney tissue.”
Experts say damaged kidney arteries will
neither filter blood well, nor regulate the fluid, hormones, acids and
salts in the body.
Consequently, George says, “damaged kidneys
will fail to regulate blood pressure. That is why we always advise
people to manage their blood pressure, because it is an important way to
prolong the health of the kidneys.”
Amisu says kidney damage and
uncontrolled hypertension each contribute to a negative spiral because,
as more arteries become blocked and stop functioning, the kidneys
eventually fail.
Those who use drugs indiscriminately should also
receive instruction about the possible repercussions on kidney health.
Experts warn that those who abuse drugs or alcohol are essentially going
out of their way to poison their own bodies.
This concerns the
overuse of some over-the-counter pain killers and using abusive drugs
such as heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, etc.
“In the process,
they are placing an enormous burden on the kidneys. This is because the
kidneys act as filters; and, like the oil filter in a vehicle, the
filter provided by the kidneys, though powerful, has limits to how much
it can take in terms of impurities,” Amisu says.
Kidneys can be injured when an individual has an accident that results in blood loss, physicians say.
George
explains that, in various ways, “sudden reduction of blood flow to the
kidneys, damage to the organs as a result of septic shock during a
severe infection, or obstruction of urine flow can all injure kidney
health.”
Experts also say that acute kidney injury can result
from pregnancy complications, such as seizures (eclampsia) and
pre-eclampsia (characterised by high blood pressure and significant
amounts of protein in the urine).
Another pregnancy complications
that can lead to kidney injury is the HELLP Syndrome — a
life-threatening liver disorder characterised by destruction of red
blood cells (Hemolysis), Elevated Liver enzymes (indicating liver
damage), and Low Platelet count. Low platelet count reduces the ability
of the blood to clot whenever there’s an injury.
And if you are a
marathon runner or an athlete who don’t drink enough fluids while
competing in long-distance endurance events, you risk acute renal
(kidney) failure that may result from a sudden breakdown of muscle
tissue. “This muscle breakdown releases a chemical called myoglobin that
can damage the kidneys,” George says.
And women need to hear
this: Multiple urinary tract infections can also damage the kidneys!
Pregnant and menopausal women are very susceptible to UTI, physicians
warn. They advise that to prevent it, women should drink lots of water
every day, and urinate often instead of holding it. They are also
advised to urinate right after having sex.
“How do we prevent kidney disease?” you may ask. Simple: by eating well.
A
study by a group of scientists, led by Dr. Alex Chang of Johns Hopkins
University, USA, reveals that people with normal kidneys who eat bad
quality diet high in processed and red meats, sodium (salt), and
sugar-sweetened beverages, and low in fruit, nuts, legumes, whole
grains, and low-fat dairy are more likely to develop kidney disease.
In
the study, published in the American Journal of Kidney Disease, Chang
says: “Unlike family history of kidney disease, diet, smoking, and
obesity are modifiable lifestyle factors that we can all control. By
eating well, quitting smoking, and maintaining a normal weight, people
can protect their kidneys and prevent future damage.”
A word, they say, is enough for the wise.
